A GNA feature by Laudia Sawer
Tema, July 12, GNA - On any ordinary morning, Maame Esi, an HIV mentor mother, stands among other mothers at the antenatal clinic of the Tema General Hospital, scanning the room, not with judgement, but with the wisdom of someone who has been there before.
Twenty-one years ago, she sat in the same space, pregnant, scared. She was about to receive a diagnosis that would change her life. She tested positive for HIV; what followed was not tragedy but transformation.
Today, she is one of Ghana’s unsung heroes, a living proof that HIV is no longer a death sentence but rather a virus that the power of one pill a day, antiretroviral drugs, can silence, helping patients to reach undetectable and untransmissible levels.
Ghana’s HIV Statistics
Ghana, like many African nations, is in a race against time to meet the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS’(UNAIDS) 95-95-95 targets by 2025. The aim is to get 95 per cent of people living with HIV to know their status; 95 per cent of those diagnosed should be on antiretroviral therapy (ART); and 95 per cent of those on ART should achieve viral suppression.
According to the National and Sub National HIV and AIDS Estimates and Projections for 2024, only 68 per cent of Ghanaians living with HIV know their status. Out of these, 69 per cent are receiving ART, and 90 per cent of them have achieved viral suppression.
Although the figure on viral suppression appears promising and indicates some medical success, there is still much to be done.
The impact and importance of ART cannot be overstated. The projections showed that in 2024 alone, ART prevented 12,358 deaths, translating into an average of 229 lives saved every week.
ART medical backing: “Undetectable means Untransmittable”
Madam Irene Boateng, Head of Pharmacy at the Tema Manhean Polyclinic, stressing the actual scientific power of antiretrovirals in the lives of HIV patients, said that people living with HIV (PLHIV) must strictly adhere to their medication regimen to reach the undetectable level, a milestone that makes them incapable of transmitting the virus to others.
The pharmacist explained that “research has shown that when the viral load level is undetectable, such persons cannot transmit the virus. Our aim is to get everyone on treatment to that level.”
She emphasised that today’s medications are highly potent, and when taken religiously, they offer powerful protection, not only for the patient but also for their partners and unborn children. The patients on ART are tested every six months to track viral suppression, and the outcomes are clear.
“All babies born to HIV-positive mothers in our clinic tested negative ss long as the mothers stick to their medication. That’s how effective these drugs are,” she said, urging family members and community leaders to encourage pregnant women to attend antenatal clinics, where HIV testing and timely treatment can prevent mother-to-child transmission.
Fighting HIV with faith and ART
The testimonies of Maame Esi and Nii Nai, an HIV cadre, bring Madam Boateng’s words to life.
In 2004, she voluntarily tested HIV during her first pregnancy, long before mandatory Preventive Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) protocols. When the test returned positive, she immediately began treatment. Her baby was born HIV negative, thanks to early intervention.
She could not breastfeed due to the risk of transmission at the time and instead used formula, which led to gossip and ridicule in her community. “One waakye seller was talking about a woman using formula instead of breastfeeding, without her knowing that it was me,” she says. “It was like a knife through my heart.”
But she persisted. Even when her husband abandoned her, she rebuilt her life, remarried an HIV-positive man, and went on to have four more HIV-negative children. The children were HIV negative because both mother and father took their ART seriously. Today, she proudly works as a mentor mother, guiding HIV-positive pregnant women toward a healthy, stigma-free life.
“I would have regretted it for life if I didn’t take my medications,” she says. “Can you imagine my children Googling for information on HIV one day and finding out I had access to medicine but refused to take it? They would never forgive me,” she adds
Just like her, Nii Nai, a “Model of Hope” who has lived with HIV for 22 years, also testifies to the ‘magic’ of the ART in his life. “I’ve never been sick a day since I started the ART,” he says. “My life is the ARTs. I know people, including pastors, chiefs, and other professionals, who are positive and healthy. You’d never know.”
Like Maame Esi, he emphasises that taking medication consistently can lead to an undetectable viral load.
“When you accept yourself and take your medications, your life doesn’t stop. I sometimes get negative results because the virus is so suppressed. That’s the power of one pill a day.”
Confronting the HIV stigma
Maame Esi speaks openly about the importance of shedding shame. She said: “I’ve grown beyond stigma. I take my medication in a trotro. I don’t even hide the label.”
Stigma remains one of the biggest barriers to adherence. However, both mentors emphasise that testing and treatment are not only lifesaving but also liberating.
“Testing is the only way to know. And knowing is the only way to live,” Maame Esi adds.
Way forward
Ghana’s HIV story is one of staggering statistics, determined survival, and a medication that is quietly transforming lives, homes, and communities.
As of 2024, a total of 334,721 people are living with the virus in Ghana, including over 18,000 children. Out of this, women bear the heaviest burden, accounting for more than 67 per cent of infections.
The path forward in the achievement of the 95:95:95 lies in voluntary testing, early treatment intervention, and suppressing the virus through ARTs.
With continued advocacy, education, and the courage of champions like Maame Esi and Nii Nai, Ghana can move beyond infection toward triumph—one pill, one person, one undetectable viral load at a time, reducing the spread of the virus.
GNA
Edited by Benjamin Mensah